Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Ltd. expects a decision from the Australian Competition Tribunal on its bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Holdings Co. by the end of February. Murray Goulburn raised its offer to A$530 million as it faces strong competition with Canada's Saputo Inc.
North America
"Cable cowboy" John Malone goes on empire-building spree again- report
Billionaire John Malone is building a cable empire once more as the firms he is backing have announced or are cooking up acquisitions amounting to more than $80 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Intel unveils wearable devices as it seeks to grow beyond PCs-report
Intel introduced wearable computing devices as it seeks to grow its operations beyond personal computers and tries to get back on track after missing the huge opportunity presented by smartphones, Reuters reported.
Lenders oppose American broadband company LightSquared's new financing arrangement
Some of LightSquared's lenders, including US Bank and MAST Capital Management,are against its decision to seek a new financing arrangement with Fortress Investment Group as part of its bankruptcy exit plan.
BlackBerry hires former Sony Ericsson executive as head for loss-making devices business
Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. has hired Ron Louks as head of its loss-making devices business. Louks had served as chief executive officer at OpenNMS Group and as head of technology at Sony Ericsson.
Latest News
Northern Virginia-based private equity investment manager has invested an undisclosed amount in Nexercise, a Maryland-based free motivational health and fitness app for iPhone and Android.
Nearly 30 funds run by Boston-based Fidelity Investments have bought a total of 2.4 million shares of Twitter in the days after its public debut. Fidelity's Contrafund led the way, holding 1.1 million Twitter shares at the end of November.
Santa Clara, California-based Palo Alto Networks has acquired Morta Security, a Silicon Valley-based cyber security firm that has been in stealth mode since last year, for an undisclosed amount.
Canada-based firm Enbridge Inc has announced an agreement to pour in $200 million in the Keechi Wind Project in Colorado, Texas, which is expected to be completed in early 2015.
Convergys Corp., a customer management services provider, will buy Stream Global Services from private equity firms Ares Management and Providence Equity Partners for $820 million. Stream provides customer relationship management services in 22 countries in 35 languages.
World food giant Nestle has sold its US frozen pasta business Joseph's Pasta Co. to private equity firm Brynwood Partners VII. Nestle acquired the Haverhill, Massachusetts pasta marker in 2006.
The healthcare unit of Connecticut-based conglomerate General Electric Co (GE) agreed to acquire several life-science assets from Pennsylvania-based laboratory firm Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc in a deal that totals $1.06 billion.
Oil and gas company EP Energy Corp., controlled by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, expects to raise $1.08 billion in its initial public offering in New York. EP Energy will sell 40 million Class A common stocks priced at $23-$27 apiece.
Sources knowledgeable about matter told TechCrunch that Microsoft has bought customer service SaaS provider Parature for $100 million in order boost the knowledge base of its CRM platform.
